The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Dockers, is a professional Australian rules football club competing in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The team was founded in 1994 to represent the port city of Fremantle, a stronghold of Australian rules football in Western Australia. The Dockers were the second team from the state to be admitted to the competition, following the West Coast Eagles in 1987. Both Fremantle and the West Coast Eagles are owned by the West Australian Football Commission (WAFC), with a board of directors operating Fremantle on the commission's behalf.
The Norm Smith Medal is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best on ground in the Grand Final of the Australian Football League (AFL). Prior to 1990, the competition was known as the Victorian Football League (VFL). It was first presented in the 1979 VFL Grand Final, and it was won by Wayne Harmes, playing in Carlton's premiership victory against Collingwood. The award is named in honour of Norm Smith, who won four VFL premierships as a player and six as coach for the Melbourne Football Club.
Chris Connolly is a former Australian rules football player, coach and administrator, most notable for his six years as senior coach of the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League.
Anthony 'Huddo' Hudson is an Australian sports commentator in television and radio. He mainly commentates Australian rules football. He also writes for News Corp newspapers. Hudson has a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism which he earned in 1993 at RMIT University.
Hudson became well known during the 1990s as a commentator for 3AW Football and subsequently the Seven Network and then Network Ten where he cemented his name.
The Crichton Medal is the name given to the best and fairest award for the Australian rules football team the Essendon Football Club. Since 1959 or 1960, it has been known officially as the W. S. Crichton Medal. The naming of the award is in honour of Wally Crichton, a former administrator for Essendon. The voting system as of the 2017 AFL season consists of five coaches, giving each player a ranking from zero to five after each match. Players can receive a maximum of 25 votes for a game.
Andrew Walker is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played with the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Barrie Charles RobranMBE is a former Australian rules footballer who represented North Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) from 1967 to 1980. He won South Australian football's highest individual honour, the Magarey Medal, on three occasions – 1968, 1970 and 1973.
The Glendinning–Allan Medal, formerly the Ross Glenndinning Medal, is awarded to the player judged best on ground in each Western Derby football match played between Fremantle Football Club and the West Coast Eagles.
The 2008 Brownlow Medal was the 81st year the award was presented to the player adjudged the fairest and best player during the Australian Football League (AFL) home and away season. Adam Cooney of the Western Bulldogs won the medal by polling twenty-four votes during the 2008 AFL season. Pre-vote favourite, Gary Ablett and sentimental favourite, Matthew Richardson finished equal third on twenty-two votes. Cooney polled twenty-four votes, one ahead of Brisbane's Simon Black, who won the award in 2002 and was equal second in 2007.
David Zaharakis is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played 13 seasons for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Jake Melksham is a professional Australian rules footballer who has played for Melbourne Football Club and the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A midfielder, 1.86 metres tall and weighing 83 kilograms (183 lb), Melksham also has the ability to play as a defender, primarily as a half-back flanker. Growing up in Glenroy, Victoria, he played top-level football early when he joined the Calder Cannons' under 18 side in the TAC Cup at the age of sixteen. He spent three years playing for the Calder Cannons, winning a premiership in his final junior year. His achievements as a junior include state representation and the TAC Medal as the best player on the ground in the TAC Cup Grand Final.
Max Gawn is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A ruckman, 209 cm tall and weighing 111 kg, Gawn is capable of contributing in both the ruck and forward line. A basketballer and rugby union player at a young age, he pursued his career in Australian rules football and was drafted to the Melbourne Football Club with the thirty-fourth selection in the 2009 AFL draft. He made his AFL debut in the 2011 AFL season. Knee and hamstring injuries hampered his first four seasons in the AFL before he moved into the number-one ruck position at Melbourne in 2015 along with selection for the 2016 All-Australian team. Gawn was named as Melbourne's captain at the start of the 2020 AFL season, and in 2021 led the club to its first premiership since 1964.
Michael George Hibberd is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club and Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A defender, 1.87 metres tall and weighing 94 kilograms (207 lb), Hibberd plays primarily on the half-back flank. After spending the 2008 season with the Dandenong Stingrays in the TAC Cup, he missed out on selection in the 2008 AFL draft, which saw him spend two seasons in the Victorian Football League (VFL) with the Frankston Football Club. After winning Frankston's best and fairest and the Fothergill-Round Medal as the VFL's most promising young player in 2010, he was recruited by the Essendon Football Club with the fourth selection in the 2011 pre-season draft.
The 2013 AFL season was the 117th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured eighteen clubs, ran from 22 March until 28 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top eight clubs.
Jack Viney is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A midfielder, 1.78 metres tall and weighing 86 kilograms (190 lb), Viney is capable of contributing as both an inside and outside midfielder. He played top-level football at a young age playing in the first XVIII at Prince Alfred College at fifteen and was a bottom-aged player in the TAC Cup for the Oakleigh Chargers. His father, Todd Viney, is a former Melbourne captain and Jack followed in his footsteps when he was drafted by Melbourne with the twenty-sixth pick in the 2012 AFL draft under the father–son rule. He made his debut in 2013, receiving a nomination for the AFL Rising Star and was awarded the Harold Ball Memorial Trophy. He was named as Melbourne's best and fairest player in 2016, winning the Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy. In 2017, he became Melbourne co-captain alongside Nathan Jones, captaining the club for three seasons.
Nathan Hrovat is a former Australian rules footballer who most recently played in the Australian Football League (AFL) for the North Melbourne Football Club. He previously played for the Western Bulldogs from 2013 to 2016. He was recruited by the Western Bulldogs in the 2012 National Draft, with pick #21. Hrovat made his debut in Round 9, 2013, against St Kilda at Docklands Stadium. In round 17, 2014 Hrovat gathered 25 disposals and was awarded the Rising Star nomination. At the conclusion of the 2016 season, he was traded to North Melbourne. Hrovat was delisted by North Melbourne at the conclusion of the 2019 season. Hrovat is now playing for Greensborough.
The 2014 AFL season was the 118th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured eighteen clubs, ran from 14 March until 27 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top eight clubs.
Patrick Cripps is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Cripps won the Leigh Matthews Trophy in 2019 and the Brownlow Medal in 2022, and he is a three-time All-Australian and a four-time John Nicholls Medallist, becoming the second-youngest player to win the latter when he first won the award in 2015. Cripps served as Carlton co-captain from 2019 to 2021, and he has served as the sole captain since the 2022 season.
The 2014 Brownlow Medal was the 87th year the award was presented to the player adjudged the fairest and best player during the Australian Football League (AFL) home and away season. Matt Priddis of the West Coast Eagles won the medal by polling twenty-six votes during the 2014 AFL season. Defending Brownlow Medallist Gary Ablett of the Gold Coast Football Club was the short-priced favourite for the medal until he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in round 16. Betting on the medal was suspended while the extent of the injury to Ablett was determined. Geelong captain Joel Selwood, Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury and Sydney's Josh Kennedy were considered to be among the new favourites in the wake of Ablett's injury, but at the end of the season Ablett was still second favourite to have polled enough votes before his injury to win the award. He ended up polling the equal-third most votes, tying with Sydney's Lance Franklin on 22 votes.
The 2016 AFL season was the 120th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989.
